Cultural references to pigs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pigs have inspired many idioms, and are frequently referenced in culture.

[edit] Pigs in mythology and religion

In Judaism and Islam, pigs are the unclean and inedible animals par excellence, the animal that is central to the concepts of treif and haram. In De Specialibus Legibus, Philo of Alexandria, a first century Jewish writer, relates that pigs were lazy scavengers, the embodiment of vice. Philo also argued that since pigs will eat the flesh of human corpses, that men should abstain from eating them so as not to be contaminated.^[1]

Pork eating cultures have had a more benign view of pigs. The sign of the Pig is one of the Earthly Branches, or zodiac signs, in Chinese astrology. In Greek mythology, Demeter was the goddess of pigs.^[2] The ancient Romans practiced a sacrifice called the suovetaurilia, in which a pig, a ram, and a bull were sacrificed, as one of the most solemn acts of the Roman religion.

The Celts also had a god of swine called Moccus, who under Roman occupation was identified with Mercury. In Celtic mythology, a cauldron overflowing with cooked pork was one of the attributes of The Dagda. In the tale of Culhwch and Olwen from the Welsh Mabinogion, the Twrch Trwyth was a prince whom God turned into a boar on account of his wickedness.

Magical transformation of humans into pigs has been used as a key plot device in fantasy storytelling - for example the Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey, in which the hero's ship's crew is turned into pigs by Circe. Val Kilmer's character Madmartigan in Ron Howard's Willow (film) is transformed into a pig along with other men.

During both the Spanish Inquisition and Portuguese Inquisition, the inquisitors sometimes referred to the targets (often Jews) as "marranos," which literally means "pigs." This was doubly insulting to these Jews due to the fact that pigs are not a kosher animal in the Jewish religious tradition and are forbidden to eat (see also: History of the Marranos in England).

[edit] Pigs in folklore

In European folklore, there is a widespread belief that pigs are intensely frightened by mirrors.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Pigs and people

The razorback is the mascot of the University of Arkansas, making it the only university or major sports team in the US with a porcine mascot.

• Pigs are often used to comment on the human condition. Winston Churchill said that "Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
• A number of schools (elementary, middle, and high schools) and universities have adopted pig or pig-related mascots. The most notable in the USA is the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, whose mascot, the razorback (Sus scrofa) makes them the only university or major sports team in the United States with a porcine mascot.
• Zhu Bajie is a famous part human, part pig, literary character from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.
• Spirited Away is another example.
• Harley Davidson motorcycles are sometimes referred to as "hogs".

[edit] Pig-related idioms

• The idiomatic phrase "when pigs fly" (or 'pigs might fly') refers to something that is unlikely to ever happen. Though its origins are much older, its popularity is reinforced by such popular references as in the Lewis Carroll poem The Walrus and the Carpenter and Pink Floyd's album Animals.

• The English language abounds with unflattering references and idioms involving pigs. Pigs are commonly associated with greed ("as greedy as a pig") and obesity, gluttony ("to pig out"). Likewise, a hog is someone or something that monopolizes time, resources, or processes, e.g. a road hog or server hog. Pigs are also associated with dirtiness ("this room is a pigsty"); the latter probably comes from their habit of wallowing in mud. The perennially soot-covered character in the Peanuts comic strip is named Pig-Pen.

• "Pig" is also used as a derogatory slang term for a police officer in many languages (of which English is no exception).

• "Male chauvinist pig" was a derogatory term adopted by the women's liberation movement in the 1960s to describe men who seem to believe that males are superior to females.

• "In a pig's eye" is a rhyming slang expression meaning, "That's not true." ("Pig's eye" rhymes with "lie".) There are also variants to this saying, such as "In a pig's ass."

• "Sweating like a Pig" to denote sweating profusely. Strictly this is illogical, as pigs have ineffective sweat glands.

• The Missouri folklorist Max Hunter collected a number of pig-related idioms:

"It's plain as a pig on a sofa"

"Clumsy as a hog on ice"

"Content as a dead pig in the sunshine"

"Wild as a peach-orchard hog"

Another pig related idiom from England is: "like buying a pig in a poke."

• Thrifty (if not fussy) sausage-makers were said to use "everything but the squeal".

• The term "slicker than a greased pig" refers an event that went well without any set backs. The term "greased pig" can also refer to something that is difficult to obtain.

• The phrase "pig's ear" means a useless object. To make a (total) pig's ear of something means to (totally) mess it up.

[edit] Music and art

• Pigs Is Pigs, is the title of a 1937 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon. This noted cartoon tells a story rooted in the synonymy of pigs with gluttony.

• Some metal bands use a method of singing called inward vocals, also known as pig squeals.

• Song of Pig is a popular song in China.

• The book Animal Farm uses pigs as a metaphor for communist figures during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and how power eventually corrupted them into Stalinesque leadership and adapted human characteristics.

• Pigs are featured heavily in the artwork and stage shows of the rock band Pink Floyd. Their 1977 album Animals featured three songs about pigs ("Pigs on the Wing 1", "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" and "Pigs On The Wing 2"), in symbolic, Orwell referencing, form. The pig that appears on the cover of Animals is called Algie.

• War Pigs is an anti-war song by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath.

• There are scenes of Marilyn Manson riding a pig in the Sweet Dreams MTV.

• KMFDM contributor Raymond Watts has solo project called PIG.

• The industrial-rock band Nine Inch Nails have songs titled "March of the Pigs" and "Piggy", both on the album The Downward Spiral.

• Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and Bill Rieflin.

• Piggies is a song by Beatle George Harrison, comparing people to pigs.

• Pigs are a recurring motif in the work of Jhonen Vasquez

• Miss Piggy is an anthropomorphized, fictional character from The Muppet Show television series.

• The Looney Tunes cartoon character, Porky Pig

• The Tiny Toons Adventures cartoon character, Hampton Pig - a student of Porky Pig.

• A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh supporting character, Piglet.

• Homer Simpson calls the pig a "wonderful, magical animal" in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian", unaware that bacon, ham and pork chops are all from the same animal.

• An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig is an episode of South Park, in which the boys try to cross-breed Cartman's pig with Kyle's Elephant.

• The movie Razorback (film) is about a killer hog/razorback.

• The fictional character Wizpig is the main villain in Diddy Kong Racing.

• In the 1994 film The Lion King, a warthog named Pumbaa is a major member of the supporting cast. He is prominently featured in nearly all media spin-offs of this movie, including books, sequels, video games, and television series.

• In the 2006 Alfonso Cuarón film The Children of Men, a pig is anchored between the chimneys of Battersea Power Station in an accurate recreation of the cover of Pink Floyd's album Animals. The pig can be seen prominently on screen for several minutes.

• Porco Rosso is a porcine fighter pilot in the comic book of the same name.

• In the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch (film) the character Brick Top claims that Pigs can be used as a means for disposing dead bodies, and that is the origin of the term "As greedy as a pig"

• In the book and film Lord of the Flies, Piggy is a central character, picked on due to his obesity and asthma.

[edit] References

1. ^ Philo of Alexandria, De specialibus legibus, lib. 4, ch. 17-18
2. ^ See Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough, ch. 49, "Ancient Deities of Vegetation as Animals"